Independent parliamentarians Andrew Wilkie MP, Dr Helen Haines MP, Senator David Pocock and Senator Jacqui Lambie will join together to announce their intention to introduce the Whistleblower Protection Authority Bill in the Parliament. They will be joined by Professor A.J. Brown AM from Griffith University, Australia’s eminent authority on whistleblower protections.
The Bill will be introduced by Mr Wilkie and Dr Haines in the House of Representatives and Senator Pocock and Senator Lambie in the Senate during the first two sitting weeks of 2025.
“It is unconscionable that whistleblowers are still being prosecuted in Australia for doing the right thing and speaking up against wrongdoing,” Mr Wilkie said. “This is why we are giving notice to introduce a Bill to the House of Representatives that will establish a Whistleblower Protection Authority.
“Whistleblowers make Australia a better place, but the Government is failing to provide adequate support and protections, and is instead hell-bent on punishing anyone who speaks up and deterring those who might.
“A Whistleblower Protection Authority is long overdue and is something the Labor Party promised before the 2019 Federal Election. The Government must end the war against whistleblowers by supporting my bill. Only then can we ensure whistleblowers are protected, not punished, prosecuted or imprisoned.”